


Year after Year

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, How Do I Tag, Long Distance Friendship, Slow Build, mentions of bullying, mostly canon compliant, then big changes, until fourth year
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-27
Updated: 2014-05-29
Packaged: 2018-01-20 23:55:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1530419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry and Isabelle have known each other for most of their lives, and are the best of friends. Even if they only see each other for just one month out of the year, and only when Harry can get away from his family. When they end up going to different schools both of their lives change though not always for the better. They keep hold of each other all the same, and that is never going to change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

The first time that Isabelle met Harry Potter she had just turned six. Her parents had decided that she should stay with her great-aunt for a month every year- ‘get back to her roots’ was what her dad said- and learn about life without magic. It wasn’t like she was helpless without magic, but Isabelle agreed anyway. Auntie needed the company because all she really had was a bunch of cats. Or that was what they had thought at least. Isabelle had been sat on the sofa eating a slice of stale chocolate cake when the doorbell rang. It startled Isabelle to say the least, the cat that had been using her legs as pillows had jumped off and hissed at her.

  “I’ll be right back, sweetheart. Just need to get the door.” Auntie told her, standing up slowly. The sitting room want a very good place to eavesdrop from; all that Isabelle could was a bunch of muttering. Something about a boy being taken care of. A boy around her age walked into the room dejectedly. He had messy black hair and really green eyes, and froze as soon as he saw her.

  “Who are you?” He asked, then blushed and shuffled his feet.

  “My name’s Isabelle Nemos. I’m six. Mrs Figg is my great-aunt.” She told him, remembering what her mother said about introducing herself. “And you are?”

  “I’m Harry-”

“Have a slice of cake, Harry,” Auntie cut him off, handing him a plate. “Isabelle, this is Harry. He lives down the street with his aunt and uncle- the Dursleys. I look after him when they go out for the day. It looks like you get some company today.”

  Isabelle thought it was rude of her aunt to talk when Harry was trying to say something but maybe it was different for adults. “How old are you?” She asked him.

 “I’m five. But my birthday is on the 31st of July!” He said quickly. Isabelle wondered if he had many other friends, he looked like he really wanted her to like him. She was fine with that though. She didn’t have any friends here, and he seemed nice.

 “Cool! Auntie didn’t tell me there was anyone my age here. I only turned six four days ago, and even the _cats_ are older than me!” She giggled.

  “That means they’re older than me too,” Harry said wrinkling his nose. “They smell worse too.” He smiled when Isabelle started laughing. Maybe staying here wouldn’t be so bad.

 

  Isabelle went home two days before Harry turned six. They had spent an hour the day before saying goodbye. When she got home, she told her parent all about her new friend- from how he stuttered when he was scared to how he didn’t like talking about his parents. She even asked if he could visit them, but they said no.

  “Sweetie, he’s probably a muggle. He isn’t allowed to know about magic.” Daddy’s face hardened. “You didn’t do any magic, did you?”

  Isabelle shook her head. “Mummy taught me how to control it. And you said that I wasn’t supposed to when I’m with Auntie because it makes her feel ‘inferior’.” Daddy sighed and shook his head, smiling.

“I did say that, didn’t I? Well, why don’t you write him a letter and we can send it to Auntie to give to Harry? I’m sure Mummy will show you how. Other than that you’re going to have to wait until next year.” Isabelle ran off to find her Mummy with that, only slightly upset that she wouldn’t be seeing her new friend for a while. She would still get to see him eventually.

 

Growing up like that-while strange- was comfortable to Isabelle. Neither she nor Harry had the fabled ‘cootie’ year- they knew that losing each other would be losing their closest, and sometimes only friend. It made Isabelle happy to know that no matter how many things go wrong during the year, for one month she would be happy.

  July was always split into Isabelle. The parts that he remembered most were when she was with Harry. They would play board games at Auntie’s house or play in the park until Harry’s cousin showed up and made them leave. They would never go to his house though. Harry wouldn’t tell her why exactly, but he got fidgety when she talked about it for too long, so she learned not to bring it up. They didn’t talk about parents either. The first time that Isabelle had brought it up, Harry hadn’t talked to her for half an hour and wouldn’t look at her until his aunt said that it was time to go. She didn’t bring them up again.

  The other part of July was mostly filled with cats and chores, so Isabelle did her best to forget it. There was also some memories of shouting from Harry’s house, but Isabelle refused to think about those. When she told her parents about it one year they said that she was just being dramatic, so she didn’t bring that up again either.

 

  Two days after Isabelle got to Auntie’s house, an owl flew in. One for her and, surprisingly, one for Harry. Of course, she didn’t learn about that one until later. She knew her letter was from Hogwarts as soon as she saw it. Not only because of the seal, but because she had already accepted invitation to a different school. Isabelle replied almost immediately, declining the place with an explanation. The only reason that she even got the letter was because she spent a month in England every year.

  Harry was dropped off the next day, his aunt leaving him with a warning not to do anything ‘freaky’. Isabelle dragged him to the living room and shut the door immediately after shooing out all of the cats. “What’s wrong? She demanded.

  “I-I don’t…” he sighed. She definitely wasn’t going to let this go, and it must have shown on her face. “There was a letter for me- I never get post- from somewhere called Hogwarts. Dudley snatched it off me when I was trying to open it. Petunia and Vernon read it and shoved me and Dudley-”

  “Dudley and I,” Isabelle cut in, earning a glare for her trouble.

  “Either way, they shoved us out of the room and got really upset. I’m staying the night by the way. The Dursleys are in London, and Dudley is with Piers.”

  Isabelle scrunched up her nose. Piers was just as bad as Dudley; He was the one that held people down while people Dudley beat them up. “Well, that means you’re either on the couch or in my room,” she said, brightening up.

  Harry smiled, even if it was only small. “I wish that I had just opened the letter in the hallway…” He mumbled. It finally hit her, Harry was a wizard too!

  “Don’t worry Harry, you’ll get more. They won’t stop coming until you send a reply, and they’ll probably send someone to find you if it gets too close to the deadline.”

  “Belle,” Harry said slowly. “Are you going to Hogwarts? What is Hogwarts?” Isabelle had forgotten that it was the Dursleys that had raised her best friend and his parents. She did this a lot, usually being reminded after showing any kind of affection. His parents could have been anyone, they could have been in the war and he wouldn’t know.

  “Hogwarts is a school in Scotland. My dad went there when he was younger, and he told me all about it. The Headmaster, Dumbledore, is really nice- if a bit mad. I’m not going there though. I’ll be going to Beauxbatons in France lie my mum. I’m glad that I’m going, really, but if I had known that you were sent a letter I would’ve tried to change my parents’ minds.” She wasn’t going to tell him about the wizarding world. The Dursleys would tell him eventually, wouldn’t they? If not, then someone would definitely have to see what was wrong and go looking for him. For now she could just leave out certain details.

  Auntie must have been waiting at the door, because -just as Harry opened his mouth to say something- she swept into the room with three cups of tea and a few biscuits on a tray. The pair obviously wouldn’t be having any private conversations for a while. When Auntie went to hand Harry his tea first, he looked shocked making Isabelle hate the Dursleys just that much more. She knew that his reaction was not just from being served before anyone, but from never being served anything at all.

  “So, it looks like you’ll be staying the night, Harry. I would have you sleep on the couch, but I would rather you had a proper night’s sleep.” Auntie was devious, Isabelle would give her that. She knew that Harry had gotten a letter- no doubt Petunia warned her- and understood that he would need someone to talk to. “I’ll pull out the old blow up mattress and set it up in Isabelle’s room later. Your aunt told me that some ‘unfavourable’ people are trying to contact you, so I must tell you that if you ever need anything, you can come here.” They were both shocked at that. Auntie had never given the impression that she knew what was going on.

  “I-I…Thank you.” He managed. Auntie nodded and took a sip of her tea. Tibbles the cat walked in and glared at everyone, then sat on the top of the television. It was going to be a long day.

 

  That night Isabelle was determined to tell Harry as much as she could about Hogwarts. She waited until she could hear Auntie snoring in the next room before rolling onto her side and looking at her best friend, who was laying on his stomach. “Harry…” She whispered. “Are you awake?”

  “No,” he replied. “And there’s nothing you can say to change that.”

  “Not even if I promise to tell you all that I can about Hogwarts?” He flipped onto his side to look at her.

  “Okay, so there’s one thing that you can say.” He admitted, making Isabelle roll her eyes. “What can you tell me?”

  “Well, for one thing… actually, why don’t you ask me anything that you what to know? It will be a _lot_ easier to figure out what to say then.” The pair sat in silence for a few seconds: Isabelle waiting for Harry to come up with a question.

  “You said that Hogwarts is in Scotland, right.” Isabelle nodded in answer. “So, how will I get there?”

  “There’s a train at Kings Cross just for Hogwarts and you get a ticket with your letter. It’ll leave at eleven on the 1st of September- it does every year- and you’ll get there just after it gets dark. They’ll be someone there- usually the groundskeeper- who will take you to the school. The train is a bit difficult to get on- and find- but there’s always at least one family that barely manages to get on, and they will be easy to find, trust me.”

  “What are the classes like? Do you know if they’re hard?” Harry asked earnestly.

  “Most of the classes aren’t like anything that you would usually have, but I don’t really know how to explain them. One of the classes is kind of a mix between chemistry and cooking, and another is pretty close to gardening actually. Don’t worry about how hard the classes are though. Most of the students are in families that have been going to Hogwarts for generations, but there’s always a few who have never heard of the school before being invited, so first year isn’t that difficult if you try your best. I don’t think anyone has ever been kicked out for bad grades, so don’t worry.”

 

  When Mrs Figg checked on them the next morning, she found them both sound asleep. At some point in the night, however, Harry had climbed into Isabelle’s bed and her arms were wrapped around him tightly. Mrs Figg closed the door as quietly as she could, smiling. From what she knew about the two children they could use as many friends as they could get.

 

Three days later, Isabelle got a letter from Harry at home. Surprisingly, it was through owl mail, which she took to mean that someone had gone to fetch him. Isabelle had been sent home the day before, and had seen Vernon’s mad rush to get them all out of the house. She was very happy to hear from him. Isabelle opened the letter and grinned stroking the snow white owl.

  _Dear Belle,_

_It turns out that I’m a wizard, but you knew that already knew that, didn’t you? Hagrid- ‘The Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts’ (he said the capital, I swear) - broke down the door to the shack in the middle of the sea that Uncle Vernon had us staying in. He was both shocked and horrified that I didn’t know anything about the magical side of Hogwarts. I didn’t bring up what you told me though- mainly because it was funny to see Uncle Vernon so scared, but also because Hagrid had just told me that I was a wizard and that my parents had been killed by vol- you- know- who. I can’t believe that the Dursleys told me that they died in a car crash. That made Hagrid angry as well._

_After that, we went to Diagon Alley and bought my school things. Hagrid also bought me Hedwig (the owl) for my birthday. It turns out that my parents had a lot of money too. I’m definitely not telling the Dursleys about that. Thanks for giving me the heads up, by the way. Now I understand what you meant about hard to find!_

  Isabelle laughed, making her parents look over in curiosity. She just shook her head and left to start writing back. She definitely couldn’t wait for the year to be up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Isabelle’s time at school had been _terrible_. The school, what with its immaculate halls and impressive decorations, was full of snotty brats who expected her to be perfect in every possible way. She was not, however, Mary Poppins and therefore made a constant fool of herself. Regardless of the fact that she was fluent in French and that her mother had attended Beauxbatons with the highest marks _in all of the school’s history,_ the students enjoyed making her shout at them in English and accidently make things explode. Needless to say, Madame Maxine didn’t like her all that much. Or at all.

The week that she spent at home before going to Auntie’s house was full of disappointed looks from her mother and pitying ones from her father. She got to Auntie’s house just before dark and was immediately sent up to her room whilst the ‘grown ups’ talked about her. Isabelle pretended that she was asleep when her father went in to check on her before he went home, then glared at the wall beside her bed until Auntie began to snore.

Isabelle climbed out of bed and quietly opened the window slipped out of the house silently. She was extremely glad that it was summer; sneaking over to Harry’s house would have been difficult with frostbite. Shimmying up the drainpipe to Harry’s window was hard enough as it is, and she only knew it was his room because Dudley’s window was covered in rude word and pictures – no doubt Harry would have to clean it once Petunia or Vernon found it.

She spent a few minutes trying to get her friend’s attention by tapping on the window and calling his name before she realised that it would take more than that to wake him up. So she put all the power that she could into banging on the window. It took a moment, but soon Harry was groggily opening the window and looking at her like she was insane. Isabelle swung herself through the window and stumbled onto the floor. The only reason that she didn’t fall flat on her face was that Harry had managed to wrap an arm around her.

“Belle?” He asked sleepily. “What in Merlin’s name are you doing here? It’s the middle of the night!”

Isabelle sighed. “I know, it’s just… I didn’t have the best time last week. Mum isn’t very happy with me for being constantly sent to the Headmistress’s office. I just really needed to see you.” Harry shook his head sadly and wrapped her in a tight hug.

“Do you want to sleep here tonight?” Isabelle nodded. “Alright, but you’ll have to leave when Aunt Petunia wakes me up. She won’t come in, but she makes a lot of noise.”

Isabelle shrugged. “I’m okay with that. Let’s just go to sleep.”

 

Isabelle woke up the next morning to the rattle of Harry’s door and Petunia’s voice yelling at Harry to wake up. Harry made a noise that would probably be translated into something very rude, but Petunia took it as conformation that she could leave. Instead of getting up and doing whatever he was meant to, Harry stayed in bed. He buried his nose into Isabelle’s back, and she smiled at the feeling of his arms tightening around her waist.

“Harry,” she whispered. “You need to get up.” Harry mumbled something that sounded like a protest. “I need to get up as well. Auntie probably knows that I’m here but I still need to get back. Plus, what would happen if one of the Dursleys come up because you don’t get downstairs fast enough? I could get into trouble and I _know_ you wouldn’t want that.”

Harry sighed huffing hot air over Isabelle’s skin. “You’re mean.” He stated. “But right.” He released his grip on her and shuffled back slightly, letting her move. Isabelle was about to get up, but instead rolled over to face him.

“Thank you, Harry. I’m really glad that you let me in. If you hadn’t…” Isabelle trailed off, not knowing how to finish the sentence.

Harry looked affronted at the thought. “Of course Belle! I would _never_ shut you out.” Isabelle smiled softly and pecked his cheek, then did her best to get back to Auntie’s house unnoticed.

 

Auntie wasn’t exactly upset with Isabelle, not really. When Isabelle stepped into the door, she could see her aunt reading a book in the sitting room. After getting about halfway down the hall, Isabelle was stopped by her Aunt’s voice. “Harry doing well?” She asked, not turning her head.

“Well enough, I suppose. But I think the Dursleys lock his door from the outside. I doubt that he can leave as often as he likes,” Isabelle replied, straightening. “How was your night?”

“Good, good.” Auntie answered still not moving. “And you? Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, thank you.” Isabelle could feel the blush creeping up her neck. “Harry was very welcoming I just wish that I could see him more often.”

Auntie sighed and looked at Isabelle sadly. “Your father wanted to apologise for he and your mother’s behaviours. He didn’t say anything about _why_ he needed to apologise, but from what he told me it may not have been unjustified. I gather that you haven’t gotten on all that well with the people at school?”

Isabelle knew that her aunt was trying to help, but school was the last thing that she wanted to talk about. After a quick shake of the head, she went to her room and shut the door. Sitting on her bed huddled into a ball, all that Isabelle wanted to do was forget that the past year had happened and be happy in Little Whinging.

 

Isabelle didn’t see Harry again until a week later. The Dursleys dropped him off for the afternoon while they took Dudley out to celebrate something or other- probably the fact that he had managed to double his weight in two years. Isabelle flung herself at harry the moment that she saw him much to his surprise. He stiffened automatically when she touched him obviously not expecting her to pounce on him.

“I missed you.” Isabelle mumbled, ignoring the fact that they had seen each other the week before.

Harry relaxed immediately, wrapping her in a hug. “I missed you too, Belle.” He told her. “Hogwarts was so… it was so much different from what I’m used to. I even made a few friends.” He sounded so confused and surprised to have such a thing happen to him. Isabelle took a reluctant step back from her friend.

“Are you okay?” She asked, looking him in the eye.

“Yeah just a little tired. You know how the Dursleys can be. At least I can count on them to treat me the same no matter how the rest of my life changes.” Harry said this light-heartedly, but years of experience told her that her friend was upset.

“Okay, enough about the Dursleys.” Isabelle pulled him into the sitting room and sunk into the sofa, dragging Harry with her. “How was your year? Sorry that I didn’t owl you, so much was happening that I forgot that I could. I’m still getting used to the idea that I can talk to you at any time.”

“It was great actually. I met Ron- Ron Weasley- on the train and we got on great. He explained quidditch to me and got me started collecting chocolate frog cards…” Isabelle smiled as Harry started detailing his new friends. It made her surprisingly whole to hear him so happy. It wasn’t until later that she understood why. Being Harry’s only friend had always worried her when she was away. But now that he had someone else- multiple people in fact- to make sure that he was okay, she didn’t have to worry as much. Isabelle didn’t doubt that Harry stayed at Hogwarts over the holidays, or that the Dursleys were happier for it. What mattered was that Harry was happier too.

 

The pair saw each other a lot more that month. At any opportunity that came up, they would go on walks or to the small parks that Dudley’s gang had claimed. When they weren’t there of course. It was one of those days, while they were both relaxing on the merry-go-round, that Harry brought up his friends’ lack of contact.

“I mean, we went through a lot this year. I was hoping for at least something to tell me that they’re still alive!” He explained.

“I could always send a letter to them,” Isabelle offered. “Not at all threatening of course,” she went on, seeing the incredulous look on his face. ‘Just to say that I’ve heard a lot about them from you and that I wanted to say hello.”

“Don’t worry about it, Belle. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

Isabelle rolled her eyes. “We better start back,” she said, looking at her watch. “The Dursleys should be back soon, and I don’t want you to get in anymore trouble.”

“What do you mean _anymore_? As far as you know, I’ve been an angel.” Isabelle gave him a disbelieving look and laughed at the thought.

Admittedly, Isabelle wrote to Harry’s friend Ron as soon as he left. It was just a short note saying who she was and what was happening. She was surprised when, just a day later, she got a response. Written in a messy scrawl, Ron explained that he had written a lot of letters and sent then all but never got a reply. Most of them were invitations to stay at the burrow, his home, and everyone was getting worried. Ron also told her that if harry didn’t respond by his birthday, he and his older brothers were going to go get him.

 

Before she knew it, it was Isabelle’s last day in England until the next year. Her parents had let her stay longer than they usually did extending the time until the day before Harry’s birthday. Harry had spent the entire day doing ‘chores’ just because Vernon was expecting people the next day, but Isabelle was determined to say goodbye to her friend.

For the first time ever, Isabelle walked up to the front door of Number Four Privet Drive and rang the doorbell. It took a few moments, and a bit of shouting on the other side of the door, for the door to open. Vernon looked suitably flustered, which made Isabelle wonder if he had worried that he had gotten the date muddled up. The confusion quickly turned into irritation when he realised that she wasn’t important to him.

“What do you want?” He snapped.

“I would like to speak to Harry, Mr Dursley. I’m Ms Figg’s great-niece.” His eyes widened when he realised that upsetting her could mean the loss of their ‘babysitter’.

“Make it quick, boy” he snapped after calling Harry. “You still have chores to do.”

“Belle! What are you doing here?” Harry asked, shocked to see her.

“I wanted to see you. Mum and Dad are picking me up as soon as it gets dark. Plus I thought that you could us the break. You work _way_ too hard, especially for someone our age.” Isabelle smiled as harry tried to deny how much work he did. “And it’s been _days_ since I last saw you.”

“Two, to be exact. It’s been two days that’s not the end of the world.” Harry responded, rolling his eyes. “I was hoping that you would be here until tomorrow anyway, or else I would’ve come to see you last night.”

“I know, I know. Of course you would’ve. I just wanted to say goodbye,” she muttered, giving her best- and only- friend a hug. “I promise that I’ll write you this time.” She let go of him and was about to leave when Harry pecked her cheek.

“I’ll see you next year Belle.” He murmured, then closed the door.

 

The day after Harry’s birthday Isabelle received letters from both Ron and Harry. Ron’s letter only really said that they had ‘rescue’ Harry from the Dursleys, and asked if she was doing well. It was obvious from the way that he wrote that Ron wasn’t sure what to say to her- they had never met each other after all. Harry’s letter was much more interesting, explaining everything that had happened since she had left.

It worried her that a house elf had tried to get him stay with Dursleys, and that the Dursleys had reacted in the way that they did. But her worry was dulled by the glee that she felt when she read about how easily the Weasleys had welcomed him into their home. Not to mention the fact that he would be free of the Dursleys for another year.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait!! I've got a bunch going on, but I should be able to post more often from now on!
> 
> French is underlined in this chapter and from now on.

**Chapter Three**

Isabelle’s second year of Beauxbatons hadn’t been much better than the first. However after the first month of detentions, Madame Maxine had put her through every mode of detention legal and changed the program. Detentions became silent study sessions in the headmistress’ office and lasted anywhere from half an hour to five. Isabelle supposed that most students at her school would have despised being taken away from ‘social activities’, but she loved it. On days that she didn’t have any homework, she would study spells that wouldn’t be taught for at least another year. Madame Maxine even let her practice them eventually.

That was when Isabelle started her projects. She charmed a few of her books to shrink and grow on command and her shoes to alter the padding on its soles according to pressure put on them. She even charmed a bracelet to heat up whenever the worst of her antagonists were near; they were getting more and more confident with each passing defence lesson. A few of the girls had put Isabelle in the hospital wing after jinxing a broom that she had been flying, though they weren’t caught.

When Isabelle showed up to one of her ‘detentions’ in a sling Madame Maxine had been concerned. Then, after learning what had happened from the nurse (Isabelle refused to say anything, worried that her parents would find out) she was absolutely livid. After that, she was much nicer and more understanding after that. Isabelle left school that year with a lot more knowledge, an ally, and a bunch of things that she didn’t need magic to use.

 

Not that improved her home life at all. Isabelle was fighting with her mother almost as soon as she got home. For two days she couldn’t be in the same room as her mother without a screaming match starting. On the third morning Isabelle simply locked her door, put a chair against the door, and refused to talk to anyone. Which, of course, didn’t mean she wasn’t going to shout at anyone that tried to reason with her.

After three more days of that, with Isabelle only talking to her house elf, Missy, her father apparated into her room. Isabelle had been sulking in her bed, cocooned in every blanket that she owned when he popped in. Ignoring the glares that were being targeted at him, he sat next to her and stared at the wall, not saying a word.

It took an hour for her to break. “Why are you in here?” She asked quietly.

“I’m tired of all of the fighting,” he said after a moment. “I want to know why you want to go to your aunt’s house so badly.”

“Harry.” Isabelle stated, after a short internal debate of whether or not she should tell the truth. “I want to see Harry. Sure, I’ve been writing him all year, but I still miss him.”

“What about your friends at Beauxbatons?”

Isabelle flinched. “I don’t actually have any.” She admitted in a small voice. “That’s why I get in so much trouble. The other people at school like making my blood boil. Madame Maxine only just found out. Harry’s my only friend.”

“Then I’m sure that your mother will relent and let you visit. It probably won’t be for a full month, obviously, but you’ll still be able to see him.” With that Isabelle’s father walked to the door moved the chair, and left.

 

She arrived at Auntie’s house a few days later. Mother still wasn’t very happy with her, so father had dropped her off on his way to work. She hadn’t been expecting to see anyone yet, so when Harry appeared out of nowhere and hugged her, she was surprised to say the least.

“”What’s wrong?” He asked quietly. It still surprised her how well he knew her.

“It’s nothing, really. Mother isn’t speaking to me. She didn’t want me visiting this year. Father convinced her to let me, though.” Isabelle told him, burrowing her face into his neck. “You’ve gotten taller.”

“Either that or you got shorter.” He grinned. It didn’t last long though. “Is it because of Sirius Black? He’s all over Muggle News, but they won’t say where he escaped _from_. Uncle Vernon was complaining about it earlier.”

“Azkaban.” Isabelle said stonily. “He escaped from Azkaban. That’s why everyone’s so scared. No one has escaped that place in all of history.” She noticed him stiffen slightly and continued in a much lighter tone. “But I’m not scared you know why?”

“Why?” Harry asked his voice a mixture of fondness ad incredulity.

“Because I’ve got my wonder boy and an army of cats.” Harry huffed a laugh at the old nickname. One that he had gotten after they watched Hercules together and he had compared her to Meg. ”How’s everyone at school?”

“Well there’s no need to ask about Ron. He told me that you’ve been writing him a few weeks into school.” Isabelle scoffed in mock disbelief, earning an eye roll for her trouble. “Hermione’s doing alright, I guess. She and her parents are going to France for the summer.” He kept talking as they walked inside, dragging Isabelle’s suitcase behind them. There were a few details that he skipped around, but it was fine with her. It wasn’t as if she told him much about what she did at school. He could keep any secrets that he wanted.

“They sound great.” Isabelle told him when he finished. “I hope that I can meet them eventually. And from what I know about what happened this year, they must be brave. Flying cars, Gilderoy Lockhart for a teacher and my dad told me about the attacks that were going on. It must have been terrifying.”

“Not until Dumbledore left. I heard that even Voldemort was afraid of him.” Isabelle flinched when he said the name, and Harry must have noticed as he apologized immediately.

“It’s fine,” she said. “I’m just not used to hearing the name. No one really says it- even the Death Eaters wouldn’t.”

“Death Eaters?” Harry asked. It was hard to remember how little he knew about the wizarding world.

“You-Know… Voldemort’s” Isabelle couldn’t help but shiver when she said the name, it was nerving.

“You don’t have anything to prove, Belle.” Harry broke in. “You don’t need to say his name if you don’t want to.”

“Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself.” Isabelle said, shaking her head.

“You know I’ve heard that a few times before” Harry said, smiling.

Isabelle grinned back at him. “Anyway, Death Eaters were Voldemort’s followers. They were the people that supported his views, thought that muggleborns and muggles, in fact- were disgusting. Most of them are in Azkaban, but a lot of them got out of it by saying that they were cursed, and some got out by giving the Ministry useful information. Anyone that calls Voldemort ‘the Dark Lord’ was a Death Eater, or approved of his views at the very least.”

How do you even know all of this stuff?” Harry asked.

“My dad used to be an Auror, but Mother made him quit after he got hurt while she was pregnant with my. Now he does deskwork. I think. He works with the ministry at the very least.”

Harry looked as if he was going to say something, but he was stopped by a knock on the door. The Dursleys had come to take Harry ‘home’. “You have to go. Here’s to hoping you survive the summer.” Isabelle said. She tried to smile but it came out more like a grimace.

“Because that’ll happen” Harry muttered. He turned to leave, but Isabelle grabbed his arm, meaning to kiss his cheek. Instead she was met by a pair of lips. Harry had turned his head, probably to say good-bye or see why she had grabbed his arm. The pair jumped apart, both blushing furiously.

“I- uh. I’ll see you later Wonder Boy.” Isabelle managed. He nodded quickly before practically running out of the house.

 

Isabelle wasn’t expecting to see harry for a while- possibly until next year. When Harry showed up at her window that same night, she was surprised. She opened her window quietly after listening to make sure Auntie was still asleep.

“What’s wrong?” She asked quietly. He quickly climbed through the window with an apologetic look on his face, closing the frame behind him.

“I couldn’t sleep.” He admitted. “I keep having nightmares. Usually I can go right back to sleep, but I couldn’t this time. But I never have nightmares when I’m with you, so this seemed like the best choice.”

Isabelle frowned. “How long have you been having nightmares? That you can remember of course.”

“Always.” He replied. “I thought that they were normal for a while, but Hogwarts changed that. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great school, but going there changed everything that I thought I knew.”

Isabelle thought for a moment before leaping toward her suitcase. She dug around for a moment before pulling out a small pair of mirrors and sitting on the bed. “Come here.” She said, patting the spot next to her. “These are two way mirrors,” she explained after handing him one. “I spent the year doing some projects, and this was one of them. Usually, they don’t tell you when someone tries to see you, so anyone with the connected mirror could spy on you as long as you don’t look at the mirror and they don’t speak. But I made it so that you feel like you’re falling whenever someone tries to see you.”

“How do I use it?” He asked, making Isabelle smack her forehead. Of course he didn’t know!

“Just say my name when you’re looking at it and my face should show up. If it doesn’t show me, either I don’t have it with me, or I’m dead, but more likely the former than the latter.”

 

They fell asleep soon after. Harry woke up before the sun rose, unaware that Isabelle was wide awake next to him. After climbing out he paused to kiss her cheek. “See you later, Belle.” He whispered, the crept out of the room.

Isabelle waited until she heard the window close before replying. “See you, Wonder boy,” she said softly, then rolled over and fell back to sleep.

 

They saw each other quite often after that. It was never long enough for heartfelt conversations, and definitely not long enough to build the courage to talk about that night. But they tended to be just long enough to make Isabelle forgot what was waiting for her at school and at home. Harry always seemed to run out of the room as soon as the doorbell rang. It wasn’t until her last day in England for the summer that Isabelle actually got to say goodbye, and that was only because it would be on her terms.

Isabelle rang the doorbell to number 4 Privet Drive full of confidence that was chipping away with every passing second. Vernon opened the door after what seemed like hours and in a much ‘happier’ mood than she had ever seen on his walrus-like face. He ushered her into the sitting room rather than sneering as he had the year before.

“Harry will be down in just a moment, “he said with a sickly sweet- not to mention completely fake- smile on his face. Isabelle was surprised that none of his guests had called the fat lump out on his obvious fakeness. It was much too easy to tell just how much he disliked her.

“Boy!” he shouted up the stairs, annoyance clear in his voice.

   “Coming, Uncle Vernon.” Harry called, running into the room at top spend. He froze the second that he saw Isabelle. She cleared her throat for Vernon to leave but she had no doubt that the mammoth of a man was listening at the key hole.

“Hey, Wonder Boy. Sorry about busting in on you like this.” Isabelle mumbled, hoping that her friend would relax

“H-hi, Belle. What- It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Are you alright?”

Isabelle nodded. “Just wanted to give you your present now, instead of sending to sending it over. I know that I already gave you something, but this is the rag oft.” She pulled a small package out of her pocket and handed it to him. “Go on, open it,” she encouraged, noticing his hesitation.

Harry quickly unwrapped the box and pulled a small chain with a stone charm out. As he held the stone to the light, it seemed to blend from red to orange to yellow to blue to white simultaneously. “What is it?” He asked softly.

“A phoenix stone. Every once in a while, a phoenix’s ashes will clump together but won’t give birth. The clump will turn to stone as long as the wizard or witch who owned the phoenix was pure of heart- and can perform a few pieces of complicated magic. The stone is supposed to boost magic in times of desperate need and courage and it’s indestructible, so it should survive your clumsy nature. Most wizards just think they are lucky though.”

“Thank you, Belle.” Harry smiled and quickly fastened the chain around his neck. “This is one of the best presents that I’ve ever gotten.” HE wrapped Isabelle in a hug and kissed her forehead, taking advantage of the few inches that he had gained on her that year.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.” She replied. “Now, I should go. Dad’s waiting for me at Auntie’s house. I was barely allowed to come and say good bye.”

“Goodbye, Belle.” Harry said, rolling his eyes.

Isabelle smiled softly, “Goodbye, Wonder Boy,” she said. In a small pulse of courage, Isabelle kissed the corner of his mouth, then turned around and walked out of the door. It smacked Vernon in the face for the simple reason that she had forgotten him, but he couldn’t complain without letting on to the fact that he had been listening in on their conversation.

   It was only the years of practice in holding back her emotions that kept Isabelle from running back to her Aunt’s house once she realise just what she had done. She was well aware of her crush on harry- she was a teenage girl after all- but she hadn’t really been planning to act on it. At a, actually. But she doubted that such a small act would change anything between them. They were friends, and that probably all that they ever would be.

 

Isabelle’s mother wrapped her in a hug the moment that Isabelle’s feet where on the ground. It surprised Isabelle so much that she dropped her suitcase and instinctually returned the hug. What surprised her even more was the fact that they were both crying. “I am so sorry, Isabelle!”” Her mother apologised. “I was so angry with you, and for what? Madame Maxine told me herself that you are getting top marks in all of your classes, not to mention that all of the professors love you. I don’t know what I was thinking! And Madame said that you have surpassed even year 7 students with your abilities in some cases. And then I kept you from seeing not only family but a friend that you have head for such a long time!”

“It’s alright, mama.”  Isabelle replied. “You had your reasons, and they were good ones. It isn’t your fault that you didn’t know.”

It wasn’t perfect, but the pair struck a truce; Mother wouldn’t talk about Beauxbatons, and Isabelle didn’t talk about Privet Drive. Going back, that was. She and her father were on slightly uneasy ground as well. From what she couldn’t guess, he hadn’t told her mother about what the people in school were like, but there were times that he looked like he wanted to talk about it. Honestly, her lack of friends was the last thing that she wanted to talk about.

 

Two weeks after Isabelle went home, she was sitting in bed reading when Harry called her. The mirror had been at the back of her mind after she gave it to him, so she naturally scrambled. It took her a moment to remember who on earth would want to talk to her. As soon as she remembered, Isabelle grabbed the mirror from the back of her bedside table table’s drawer and settled back into bed.

Harry’s face was much too close to his mirror. Isabelle supposed that it was understandable mistake he had never used the mirrors before. From what she could see, his eye, he was upset, or at least confused.

“Harry,” she said softly. “You’re holding the mirror too close. All that I can see is one of your eyes.”

“Sorry.” He mumbled. He pulled it away from his face until she could see him properly He was definitely wasn’t at home. “I’m at the leaky Cauldron in London. Aunt Marge was at the house, and she wouldn’t _shut up._ She was talking about my parent as if they were dirt. I lost control, and she blew up like a balloon so I ran to the end of the street and caught the Knight bus. The minister of Magic met me here and said I’m not in any trouble, so don’t worry about that.”

During his explanation, which involving quite a lot of head bobbing, Isabelle caught sight of a mark on her friends forehead. She slowly went over the possibilities, almost immediately dismissing the thought of a lightning bolt. Surely, he would have told her. But as soon as he mentioned _The Minister of Magic letting him off personally_ she seemed to remember that she did even know his surname.

”Harry…” She said slowly. “I just realized that, in the eight years that I’ve known you, I’ve never known your last name”

“I-um-I” He stuttered, flattening his hair to cover his forehead.

“I’m not going to hurt you, you big dolt. You’re a potter, aren’t you? If I had known-“

“What? You would have treated me differently? I’ve had enough of that actually.” Harry broke in snappishly. Isabelle had never heard him use that voice, and definitely never directed at her.

“No actually,” She told him quietly. “I would have insisted that my parents listened when I talked about your uncle. And I wouldn’t have brought up your family so often.”

Harry sighed sheepishly. “I’m sorry, it’s just… people keep talking about what happened, how fragile I must be, how much power I must have. It wasn’t even me, I was a year old!” My mother saved me, I didn’t do anything.”

“It’s fine. I wouldn’t want that much attention either, no matter what it’s for.” Isabelle replied. Then she realised something. “Sirius Black!”

“What about him?” Harry asked, looking puzzled.

“That’s why Fudge let you off, he wants you at Hogwarts so that they can keep an eye on you!” She explained. “My father told me everything he could about the case! I was so upset when I found out that he hadn’t had a trial; nothing that I knew about him made sense when I thought about his case.”

“What do you mean?” Harry broke in” What was his case?”

“They said that he was the secret keeper,” she continued, ignoring him. “But Father said that they were much smarter than that in Hogwarts. Her most definitely. So they should’ve picked the least suspected person not the best friend! Especially considering how much he had hated his family and everything that they stood for. They made him godfather for Merlin’s sake!”

“Belle” Harry said firmly knocking Isabelle out of her thoughts. “What do you mean?”

“Sirius Back was your parent’s secret keeper, allegedly, and your godfather. He was sent to Azkaban for giving you- Voldemort information that led to your parents death, as well as the murder of 12 muggles and Peter Pettigrew- also a friend.” She told him. Before she could elaborate, however, her father walked in and sat next to her.

“I could hear you talking,” He explained. “Considering that I just got home from an extended shift you ought to be sleeping. Though, I can’t speak for you, Harry.”

The pair blushed. “S-sorry,” Harry stuttered. “I forget about the time difference, and I wanted to talk to Belle.”

“Don’t worry, the amount of time that you two have known each other, I’m not surprised. Though your aunt and uncle might be surprised to find you awake at this hour.”

“They wouldn’t care.” Harry said stonily. “They’ve effectively kicked me out for the year. I’m not to go back until summer- not that I would want to.” Isabelle flinched at the heartless chuckle that he finished with.

Father was quite surprised to hear that. “Where are you staying then? I would gladly come and bring you here!”

“No, no, I would rather stay. Fudge wants me to stay on Diagon alley. I’ve only got two weeks until school anyway, and my friends should be here soon.”

“If you’re sure.” Her father said slowly. Isabelle had no doubt that Harry would be checked on from now on. “Either way you should both be going to sleep.”

The thirteen rear olds said their goodbyes, drawing them out for as long as possible. It wasn’t until the mirror as back in place that Isabelle noticed that her father hadn’t moved from his place. “I just told Harry Potter off for staying up to late, didn’t I?” He said slowly. Isabelle laughed and pushed him out of the room.

“Goodnight, Dad!”


End file.
